paulmarkillie.bsky.social - Profile | ThreadSky | a Reddit-style client for Bluesky

Drones are a classic dual-use technology. This cargo drone from Pipistrel can carry 270kg loads for more than 500km. Looks like it can be front-loaded with cargo pallets using a forklift. www.pipistrel-aircraft.com/nuuva-v300-t...

submitted 9 days ago • 0 comments

Snowdrops are up

submitted 20 days ago • 0 comments

Cricket pitch a bit wet

submitted 31 days ago • 0 comments

In training for the Big Garden Bird Watch

submitted 38 days ago • 0 comments

@alastaircampbell2.bsky.social you like trees

submitted 41 days ago • 0 comments

These guys need some help www.change.org/p/halt-the-r...

submitted 41 days ago • 0 comments

A complaint I hear from many tech bosses in the UK. Government indecision and a lack of understanding leads to project delays and a loss of advantage. Been writing about small modular nuclear reactors for a decade, and there is still no demo unit up and running. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

submitted 41 days ago • 1 comment

Big tree in the mist

submitted 46 days ago • 0 comments

Another chilly morning for the herd

submitted 48 days ago • 0 comments

America should offer to buy Greenland from Greenlanders, not Denmark. And it would probably be a good deal to make every one a multimillionaire in exchange for the territory. Trump should rescind all threats and instead name a price--my column www.economist.com/finance-and-...

submitted 49 days ago • 540 comments

A 3D-printed battery that you feed rather than charge (or more correctly an interesting fungal fuel cell). It could power things like sensors in remote locations. www.empa.ch/web/s604/fun...

submitted 48 days ago • 0 comments

The world is covered in concrete. Its main ingredient, cement, is responsible for some 7% of man-made CO2 emissions. There are ways to decarbonise, but at the end of the day industry has to be prepared to pay more for these green alternatives. A good roundup: www.idtechex.com/en/research-...

submitted 50 days ago • 1 comment

@shashj.bsky.social Rolls-Royce used to fire frozen turkeys into their jet engines to simulate bird strikes. They could handle it. The question in South Korea is why no flaps and undercarriage in an emergency landing?

submitted 59 days ago • 0 comments

AI has already given us Large Language Models for chat and questions and Large Behavioural Models for robotics. We now have Large Computational Engineering Models for rocket engines. leap71.com/2024/12/23/l...

submitted 59 days ago • 1 comment

Christmas cuddles

submitted 66 days ago • 0 comments

The transition of PV panels from energy generator to building material continues. www.pv-magazine.com/2024/12/17/g...

submitted 68 days ago • 2 comments

🎶It's the most wonderful time of the year🎶 - time for The Economist's Christmas issue, in which I try to explain what makes Toyosu, in Tokyo, the world's greatest fish market: www.economist.com/christmas-sp...

submitted 69 days ago • 2 comments

In-wheel electric traction motors are an interesting prospect that go back a long way - even Ferdinand Porsche used them for his first car, which was in fact an EV. These take the idea much further. newatlas.com/automotive/e...

submitted 68 days ago • 0 comments

Solar energy is booming, but we don't have to worry about covering the world with solar installations, which occupied approximately 19,000 km² in September 2024, roughly 1/3 the size of Tasmania. www.abc.net.au/news/2024-12...

submitted 70 days ago • 2 comments

Pink sky tonight

submitted 74 days ago • 1 comment

This is worrying, especially as it’s a technology that could be supercharged by AI.

submitted 75 days ago • 0 comments

How to turn a helicopter into a jet plane. Bell (part of Textron) has wind-tunnel tested this concept, which after a vertical takeoff folds its rotors to reduce the drag that would otherwise restrict high-speed forward flight. Complicated and a bit like the Osprey, which I remember seeing launched.

submitted 79 days ago • 0 comments

Lake looking very green this morning. If you look closely the small black blob is a little grebe.

submitted 82 days ago • 0 comments

Muddy times again

submitted 83 days ago • 0 comments

Caught this flying off Durdle Dour in Dorset, UK, last week. It looks like a Sea King, except I believe they had all retired from service. Some kind of ghostly aberration?

submitted 83 days ago • 1 comment

Well, it’s certainly different. Which is the intention. But like all concept reveals, it will depend what is actually rolling off the production line in a year’s time. Despite early reservations, there are some things about the design I like.

submitted 85 days ago • 0 comments

The world’s 280 million electric bikes and mopeds are cutting demand for oil 4x more than electric cars due to their staggering uptake in China and elsewhere.

submitted 87 days ago • 49 comments

15.08 and it’s getting dark already

submitted 87 days ago • 0 comments

For short trips you can expect to fly electric. Two-seater electric planes are already a good prospect for flying schools. This 30-seater opens up serious commercial prospects. heartaerospace.com/es-30/

submitted 89 days ago • 1 comment

How AI is teaching robots to carry out tasks faster than ever. My latest: www.economist.com/science-and-...

submitted 90 days ago • 2 comments

Solid state batteries are coming of age. SAIC has a 1st gen semi-solid state battery (~130Wh/kg specific energy den) in a 900V vehicle soon to reach production (~2026) that enables fast charging. The 2nd Gen has ~400 Wh/kg, & solves safety &cold weather issues. 🧪🔌💡🔌🚗 carnewschina.com/2024/11/25/s...

submitted 91 days ago • 7 comments

This looks good. Not sure how it would go down on Fistral Beach though. lind.surf

submitted 93 days ago • 1 comment

Cricket pitch is turning into a boating lake

submitted 94 days ago • 0 comments

Bridle way through the woods pop paved with leaves

submitted 95 days ago • 0 comments

Why did Jaguar trash its brand as a break from the past? Perhaps they forgot a past containing mould-breaking models like the XK120, the D-Type, E-Type and, to some degree, the electric I-Pace. As Marina Hyde says “now people of all types won’t buy your cars.” www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

submitted 95 days ago • 1 comment

He’s come a long way since I remember writing about this interesting online payments company that had started called PayPal. Not sure about where he has ended up…

submitted 96 days ago • 0 comments

Our cover story this week is on Elon Musk. I contributed to the briefing, specifically looking at Mr Musk's space-related leverage over the Pentagon and intelligence community—considerable, but not necessarily as severe as sometimes assumed. economist.com/briefing/202...

submitted 97 days ago • 15 comments

Unfailing technology

submitted 96 days ago • 0 comments

I am really unaccustomed to seeing The Economist get the story of the #energytransition right, with appropriate context and caveats, but by gum, they have this time! “the cost of a transition away from fossil fuels is consistently exaggerated.” www.economist.com/interactive/...

submitted 97 days ago • 4 comments

Leaves are lovely today

submitted 98 days ago • 0 comments

Jaguar’s new branding. With no new products on sale and a plan to move upmarket with EVs to rival the likes of Bentley and Aston Martin, this is their future. If they have one.

submitted 99 days ago • 0 comments